Stiletto heels and red lipstick can be hard to find among career women in buttoned-down Washington. That was a problem for Cynthia de Lorenzi.
“Here, the rules are comfortable shoes and conservative,” de Lorenzi said.
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She moved to the region in 2002 to become chief executive of her family company, PatriotNet. When she arrived, she realized she didn’t have any girlfriends who were going through the same experiences of running a multimillion-dollar company.
“When they say it’s lonely at the top, it’s really lonely here,” she said.
To try to get some like-minded women together — almost as a joke — she decided to throw a glam networking event marking the end of the television show “Sex and the City.” She required women to dust off their high heels and makeup, and even gave out a pair of red stilettos as a door prize. People had such a good time that she began organizing monthly events of a similar nature.
In 2006, she sold her firm and decided to make her group of powerful Washington women an official organization; Success in the City was born. The group now boasts more than 200 members, has 1,000 female subscribers and continues to hold unusual networking events that de Lorenzi says emphasize their “diva” nature.
Events include mysterious mansion tours around Halloween, and CEO chitchats in which the women are asked personal questions on topics like their first boyfriend or whether they cut school when they were younger.
Sally Strackbein, founder of Defining Story, likes the group because it emphasizes making friends rather than just business.
“I really like that I don’t feel like I’m pounced on every time I go to an event,” Strackbein said.
Sheri Sylvester, an executive with AdZig Logo Promotions, has participated in a number of events, from a Breakfast at Tiffany’s shopping excursion to a trip to New York to visit the garment district. This year, the group plans to hold a series of author talks, as well as recruit “diva deans” who can give professional talks on what women need to know — de Lorenzi also started an online television network for the organization. De Lorenzi plans to expand the group nationally as well.
And as for those stilettos? Naturally, the group on Friday went to see the movie incarnation of “Sex and the City.” The verdict?
“It was great,” Sylvester said. “I hadn’t seen the TV show, so it was all brand-new to me.”
